3 Atlanta Braves to blame for miserable Game 1 loss to Phillies in NLDS

1. Brian Snitker

The Braves won 104 games in the regular season. The formula worked. So Brian Snitker's decision to shuffle things up for Game 1 of the NLDS was...an issue.

There was a method to the madness. The Phillies were going with Ranger Suarez on the mound. Snitker moved Austin Riely to second and Ozzie Albies to fourth while starting Kevin Pillar in left field. The idea was to get a leg up against the lefty.

How'd that work out? Very badly.

Suarez pitched 3.2 innings and gave up just one hit while striking out four batters. From there, the Phillies bullpen took over and straight-up dominated. The Braves managed four hits on six pitchers.

Albies in the clean up spot was toothless. Riley was 1-of-4 with two strikeouts. Pillar struck out once before he was replaced by Rosario, who went 1-of-2.

In the end, Saturday night was a lesson in the dangers of tinkering. Don't fix what isn't broken. This wasn't some underdog needing a boost to upset the big bad wolf. The lineup was historically good. The smarter move would have been to just let them cook.